When I was a little kid, my family would get together and go out to eat at these all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants.  In hindsight, it made sense.  There were a lot of us, and a good number of children when you added my cousins to the mix.  At the dessert table, there were always all sorts of puddings.  One of my favorite was the butterscotch pudding.  It was creamy, rich and buttery and it melted in my mouth.  

My mother never made it at home.  In fact, her idea of pudding was always from a box.  The only pudding she actually made from scratch was rice pudding -- and that's the topic of another blog.  So the butterscotch was a special treat that we only had once in a blue moon at the buffet.  

I had not thought about or even remembered butterscotch pudding until a few weeks ago, when I started taking Nancie McDermott's Pie class on Craftsy.  She demonstrated how to make the butterscotch pie from scratch and it brought back wonderful memories of my childhood.   As soon as I saw her make it, I knew I had to try it.  

Let me tell you, it did not disappoint!  

I found a published version of the recipe on Nancie's blog.  Of course I needed to convert it to a dairy free version.

The recipe called for evaporated milk.  Well, I would have to make that.   I took 1/2 coconut milk and 1/2 almond milk and put it into an oven proof glass bowl.  I baked it on 175 for about 3 hours, let it cool off and stuck the finished product in the fridge. 

Next, I made a 9" pie crust using Earth Balance buttery sticks and blind baked it (first 5 min with pie weights/ remaining 10 min by itself). 

Then I moved on to the sauce.  I followed Nancie's instructions - cooking the brown sugar, flour and evaporated milk on the stove top over medium to high heat until it formed a thick almost paste-like consistency.  Then I tempered my beaten egg yolks and combined them with the sauce off the heat.  I cooked it for a minute or two whisking aggressively (so as not to scramble my egg yolks) and then took it off the heat, added the Earth Balance buttery sticks, and then finally the vanilla.  

As the pie cooled, I moved on to my meringue that I made with my reserved egg whites.  I took it to soft peaks, adding sugar to the mixer one tablespoon at a time until i had nice, but still a little floppy, soft peaks.  I topped the pie with the meringue, fluffed the top a bit, and stuck it back into the oven.  For the last 2-3 min, I put it under the broiler. 

Now it's cooling until I bring it to a friend's house tonight. 

So, this is a dessert made of leftovers.  I had some extra pie crust from when I made my strawberry rhubarb pie, some extra jam after making strawberry jam this morning, and I pitted a bunch of cherries, but not enough to make a whole pie.  So, I put the cherries into a ramekin and poured the excess jam over them.  Then I rolled out the pie crust and cut out star shapes.  I painted on a little egg wash, and sprinkled a little lilac sugar on top.  Then baked it for 25 min at 375F.  

Rhubarb is a wonderful springtime plant that signals that summer is on its way.  Rhubarb makes a fantastic pie.  It also makes a wonderful jam.  Here is my take on an American Classic. The filling for this pie is modified from Nancie McDermott’s recipe. 

Piecrust for a 9” pie with lattice crust

190gms (approx. 16 tablespoons) butter or Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
36gms 8 all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons of ice water

Cut the butter up and put back into the fridge, to keep it cold until you are ready to use it.

Add the flour, butter, salt and 3 tablespoons of the water to a food processor and pulse until it begins to form a ball – if it doesn’t add more water 1 tablespoon at a time.

Divide the dough in half (I like to weigh it to make sure it’s the same in each packet.  Or – you can halve the recipe and make two batches to be sure.

Pour the dough into plastic wrap and wrap it up.  I like to press it into a disc shape so it’s easier to roll out later.  

Put the discs into the fridge for at least an hour and up to 36 hours.

Pie filling

Pie dough for a 9” Lattice pie

• 259g sugar
  
• 49g AP flour
  
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  
• ¼ teaspoon salt
  
• 365g Fresh Rhubarb cut into ½ inch chunks
  
• 291 hulled, sliced strawberries
  
• Zest and juice of one lemon
  
• 2 tablespoons earth balance buttery sticks (or butter) cut into small pieces
  

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

First roll out one of the discs.  I like to roll it inside the plastic because it doesn’t stick to anything and it doesn’t crumble on you.  Then I like to place the pie plate over the piecrust and flip it over, so I don’t have to handle it too much.

Next, mix the cut fruit with the sugar, salt, cinnamon, lemon, and flour. Mix gently to combine.

Pour the filling into the piecrust, dot with earth balance/butter, and put it into the fridge while you roll out and cut the lattice top. 

Roll out the crust inside the plastic wrap the same way.  Then cut the dough into long strips.

Now, I did not weave my lattice this time, although you can certainly do that.  Instead, I lined the pie with strips vertically, and then I lined the pie with strips horizontally in a checkerboard pattern. 

From there, pinch the ends of the dough down and press with the tines of a fork.

Before I put the pie into the oven, I brush it with an egg wash, then sprinkle granulated sugar on top.

Bake at 400 degrees for the first 15 minutes, then drop the temperature down to 350 and bake for another 45 -50 minutes.

Let it cool before your serve it.